(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packet communication network and a subscriber-associated-information delivery controller, and more specifically, to a packet communication network comprising a mobile network operator (MNO) network, which includes a radio access network, and a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) network, which provides an information service network to each wireless terminal by using communication resource of the MNO network, and a subscriber-associated-information delivery controller located in the MNO network.
(2) Description of Related Art
In the Internet (IP network), there exist free application sites for providing information services without charge and pay application sites for providing information services with charge. The free application site provides an information service in response to a request from each user without authenticating the user. On the other hand, the pay application site determines whether a requesting user is a user having been registered as a subscriber, and provides an information service in response to the request only to a user authenticated as the member.
The Internet is seeing a rapid increase in the number of accesses from wireless terminals, such as, a personal computer equipped with a communication card and a cellular phone, in addition to wired terminals using subscriber lines. A small-sized, lightweight portable wireless terminal is improving in information processing capacity and data transmission speed. Consequently, application services aimed at wireless terminal users are promising in the Internet.
In order to expand an application service market for such wireless terminals, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is promoting the communication services by a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), as is shown, for example, by a mobile business study group report in 2007. The MVNO means a carrier that provides information communication services to end users without being assigned a dedicated frequency for the MVNO, by using communication resources and communication services provided by an existing mobile network operator (MNO) who undertakes the business of Type I telecommunications carriers.
Since the MVNO provides unique communication services to end users by borrowing a part of communication resources of the MNO, it will subject to constraints about the operation of the communication resources. Then, for example, Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2006-340267 has proposed a wireless communication service system that enables the MVNO to provide a unique call processing service independent from a call processing service by the MNO and to decide connection fees, by installing a call processing function named a call agent connected to a wireless exchange office of the MNO.